Saint Januarius

Januarius, in Italian Gennaro, was bishop of Benevento in southern Italy at the end of the third century. During the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, according to ancient accounts, he went to visit Christians who had been imprisoned for the faith and was himself arrested. He was beheaded around 305 near Pozzuoli, close to Naples, together with several companions.

His relics were eventually brought to Naples, where they rest in the cathedral. Since at least 1389, records describe a dried, dark substance kept in two glass ampoules and venerated as his blood, which on certain days becomes liquid before the people. The Church has never formally declared this a miracle, but the faithful see it as a sign of his protection. Neapolitans have long invoked him against eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, epidemics and disasters.

On September 19, and also on the Saturday before the first Sunday of May and on December 16, the archbishop of Naples holds up the reliquary in the cathedral as crowds pray for the blood to liquefy, which is greeted with joy and applause.

In New York's Little Italy, the Feast of San Gennaro, held since 1926, fills Mulberry Street for eleven days with processions, music and Italian food, and similar festivals take place in Italian-American communities across the United States.